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Grammar
Letters and Sounds Voiced and Voiceless Consonants Г, normally pronounced ''g ''(voiced stop) as in ''good ''is pronounced ''v ''in the endings -ого and -его of the genitive singular masculine and neuter of pronouns and adjectives, e. g., егó, чегó, когó, никогó, одногó, моегó, какóго, э́того, рýсского, бéлого. This pronunciation appears also in the adverb сегóдня (today) and in ничегó (nothing), since both forms were originally genitive constructions. In the word мнóго ''much, ''on the other hand, г is part of the word stem and therefore pronounced ''g.'' Hard and Soft Vowels The pronunciation of the sections above can only occur when е is accented. As soon as the syllable loses the accent, the ''o ''pronunciation vanishes. But not every accented e gets the ''o ''pronunciation. In this book the ''o ''pronunciation of the letter e is indicated by the modified symbol ё, a practice adopted from the Russian grammarians. In normal Russian spelling, the two dots on the letter ё are absent. Note that the syllable in which the letter ё appears is always accented. Rules of Spelling All common nouns, adjectives, and pronouns (including я ''I'') are written with small initial letters, except when beginning a sentence. Capitalized are only proper names, i. e. names of individual persons (Christian names, patronymics, surnames), institutions, inhabited places (villages, cities), provinces, countries. Names of peoples and the adjectives derived from them are written with small initial letter. General Grammatical Remarks Rules of Spelling There is no article (either definite or indefinite) in Russian. The word кни́га, therefore, may mean: ''book, a book, the book.'' The form э́то is used for ''this is, that is, it is, these are, those are, ''irrespective of gender and number of the noun or pronoun following. Direkt questions may be asked in the form of declarative sentences, except that the voice is raised at the end of the sentence. The order of words in such interrogative sentences usually does not differ from that in similar declarative sentences. The possessive adjectives мой ''my'', наш ''our'', ваш ''your'', appear in the masculine form when used with masculine nouns, in the feminine form моя́, нáша, and вáша when used with feminine nouns, and in the neuter form моё, нáше, and вáше when used with neuter nouns. On the other hand, the possessive pronouns егó ''his'', её ''her'', and их ''their ''remain unchanged in all positions, irrespective of the gender and number of the noun with which they are used. In affirmative answers the meaning ''yes ''is frequently expressed not by the word да, but rather by simply repeating the word about which the question is asked. Thus Это онá? ''Is this she? ''Онá. ''Yes, it is. ''In the answer to a question the subject pronoun is usually omitted in colloquial speech. Notice that где ''where ''is used both as an interrogative adverb and a conjunction. In direct questions introduced by special interrogative words (e. g., как, что, почемý, какóй, etc.) the word order differs according to the type of subject used. If the subject consists merely of a personal pronoun (я, ты, он, онá, онó, мы, вы, они́), there is straight word order: (1) interrogative element, (2) subject pronoun, (3) verb. Other parts of speech may be inserted between these three basic elements. Cf. Что я дéлаю? Что он (онá, онó) дéлает? Что вы там лéлаете? Почемý вы не читáете? Какýю кни́гу вы читáете? Какóй ещё язы́к вы знáете? If the subject is a noun (with or without attributes), there is inverted word order: (1) interrogative element, (2) verb, (3) subject, e.g., Что дéлает ваш друг? Что дéлает ваш брат и вáша сестрá? Как говори́т э́тот господи́н? Notice that что ''what ''is used both as an interrogative and a relative pronoun. As a relative pronoun it means ''what ''or ''that which'', but never ''which. ''Notice also that some speakers consistently pronounce что as ''chto'', while other speakers now say ''shto ''now ''chto. ''The student is advised to acquire the pronunciation ''shto.'' ли is an interrogative particle. It is used immediatly after the word about which the question is asked. When this particle is used, the word in question (the emphasized word) always stands first in the sentence. Thus, ли always follows immediatly after the first word or phrase of the sentence. It is always unstressed. ли must not be used in sentences beginning with an interrogative adverb (как, где, etc.), pronoun (кто, что), or adjective (какóй). The use of ли is not compulsory in affirmative direct questions. See section above. For the position of ли, prepositional phrases are treated as a single word. The negative particle не (usually unstressed) is put immediately before the verb which it negates. Although it is not written together with the verb, it must be considered as an inseparable verbal prefix. No other word or particle can ever be placed between не and the verb. When a part of speech other than the verb is negated, the negative particle is placed before the word, e.g., Notice that in Russian there is nothing corresponding to the English ''do'', or ''does'' in interrogative sentences. Russian uses two negatives where standard English has only one. The negative expressions ни, ни - ни, ничегó, and all others of similar formation (e.g., никогдá, нигдé, никтó), when used in a sentence containing a verb, must be accompanied by the regular negative particle не, about which see section above. In colloquial speech, the conjunction что ''that'' is sometimes omitted, e.g., See also section below. Declension of Nouns General Remarks on Declension There are three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun modified, but they have their own declension. All nouns ending in a hard consonant or -й in the nominative singular are masculine. Masculine are also quite a few nouns ending in -ь (soft ending) as well as nouns denoting male persons, irrespective of their ending. Masculine nouns ending in -ь are marked with the abbreviation ''m.'' in the vocabulary. Nouns ending in -а, -я (not -мя), and -ь in the nominative singular are usually feminine. For exceptions, see section above. All feminine nouns ending in -ь are marked with the abbreviation ''f. ''in the vocabulary. Nouns ending in -е (-ё), -о and -мя (see section below) in the nominative singular are neuter. It is characteristic of Russian to have separate masculine and feminine forms of nouns denoting persons. The suffixes -ка and -ица are most frequently used for the feminine form. Formation of the Accusative Singular The accusative singular of neuter nouns, adjectives, and pronouns is identical with the nominative singular. Consequently, words like дéло, перó, слóво, здáние, плáтье, пóле, и́мя or expressions like нáше перó, моё и́мя, рýсское перó, англи́йское слóво, мáленькое здáние, францýзское плáтье may be used either as the subject or the direct object of a sentence. The accusative singular of masculine nouns denoting inanimated objects. ( Adjectives Proper Nouns Pronouns Personal Pronouns вы is used a) in addressing several persons at a time, (b) as a polite form in addressing a single person. Pronouns must agree in gender and number with the nouns for which they stand. Thus, the use of он, онá, and онó is determined by its antecedent. If the antecedent is a masculine noun, он is to be used, even though a thing is referred to and the pronoun ''it ''is required in English. The pronoun онó ''it ''is used only (and must be used) after a neuter antecedent. The plural form они́ ''they ''is used for all three genders. See also sections above. Numerals Use of the Cases Prepositions Expressions of Time Adverbs Degrees of Comparison Verbs The forms of the present tense of the verb ''to be (am, is, are) ''are as a rule not expressed in Russian. Participles Gerunds Passive Voice Conjunctions